Kiss the Cow Farm is a Barnard, Vermont organic, grass-based dairy selling milk and ultra-premium ice cream from a small herd of Jersey cows. Randy and Lisa Robar came back to the VFF for a second loan to purchase a larger pasteurizer and bottler-capper so they can efficiently meet current demand for their pasteurized milk.
Read MoreThree Cow Creamery is a micro-dairy at the heart of a traditional small, diversified farm in Corinth, Vermont. Owner Liz Guenther hand milks between 3 and 7 cows, and makes raw milk English and French cheeses with the milk. In addition she raises her own beef, chickens, pigs and keeps a team of small draft horses. A VFF loan will help her complete a new “cheese house” which will house a cheese room, aging cellar, licensed kitchen, milk room, and classroom/tea room, where Liz plans to offer cheesemaking and cooking classes.
Read MoreThe Wild Kid Farm is a growing goat dairy in Hyde Park, VT. Jean and Charles Pratt started raising goats in 2015 and have been slowly building their closed herd to the point where they are ready to start shipping milk. In this case, the Vermont Farm Fund was able to provide a combination loan with a $10,000 Emergency Loan to help cover losses specifically related to COVID-19 as well as a $20,000 Business Builder Loan to help them finish the construction of their milk house.
Read MoreBear Roots Farm is a certified organic diversified vegetable farm in Williamstown, VT that distributes its products through a local 250 member CSA and a farm store, The Roots Farm Market, in Middlesex, VT. They started their farm in 2014. They used their VFF Business Builder Loan to purchase a high crop tractor to improve their ability to cultivate and improve their systems and efficiencies.
Read MoreJessie and Gregory Witscher from Understory Farm came to the VFF in 2018 for their first loan. In 2020 they paid it off early and in early 2021 they moved to a new property in Bridport (the former Gleason Farm) with help from the Vermont Land Trust's Farmland Access Program. They've been busy over the past few months, moving everything from their leased farm in Sudbury to Bridport, including six greenhouses, a wash station and pack shed. With their second VFF loan they will be able to purchase a cultivating tractor and basket weeder. By upgrading their field cultivation efficiency they will be able to produce more high quality cut flowers for a competitive price, making their farm business more sustainable moving into the future.
Read MoreXR Maple Farm in Arlington used their Business Builder Loan to purchase a monitoring system for their sugaring operation which will let them keep close tabs on the vacuum lines and know how much sap is in each holding tank.
Read MoreSheep Meadow Farm in Danville, VT received a VFF Business Builder Loan to purchase and install a 6-ton bulk grain bin, which will cut the cost of feed in half. They use whole corn to finish lambs before slaughter. This year they were able to raise 170 lambs for local markets.
Read MoreBased on a farm in Albany, Vermont, Wunderkammer Biermanufaktur is a small production, artisanal brewer of mixed-culture beer that features local malt and hops as well as produce and foraged ingredients. They are building a new brewhouse in an old cheese cave and will use the loan for purchasing equipment and start-up supplies and raw materials.
Read MoreBirdhous is a “co-working landscape” inviting young and beginning farmers to its residential “Roosting” program, which offers subsidized rent, tool and infrastructure sharing, and the built-in support offered by living communally in a like-minded cohort. Their VFF Business Builder loan was used to outfit a bus into a certified food production space for pierogi-making that can also work as a catering/food truck for pop-up VT Pierogi events.
Read MoreBlack Dirt Farm is a diversified family farm in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. They collect food scraps from the community, forage hens, make compost and worm castings with the excess food and manure, and use them to nourish our soils and crops. A VFF Business Builder loan will allow them to expand their egg operation. They will use it to construct and outfit a new 30’x96’ greenhouse, to house our new flock of 1,000 birds, with an attached wash and pack house.
Read MoreAdam’s Berry Farm in Charlotte is one of the largest certified organic berry farms in Vermont. They grow organic strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries for local distribution to wholesale accounts, restaurants, breweries, CSAs, and Burlington Farmers’ Market customers. A VFF Business Builder Loan will allow them to expand their blueberry production by adding 4.5 acres of blueberries and installing new packing equipment that will increase efficiency and provide higher quality fruit.
Read MoreHappy Bird Poultry Farm in Isle La Motte raises meat chickens for sale to wholesale restaurant customers as well as local customers from their small farm store. A Business Builder Loan from the Vermont Farm Fund allowed owners Ember and Stacey Boyle to expand their barn and more than double the number of chickens they raise.
Read MoreAnanda Gardens is a diverse, small scale, certified organic farm, located 10 minutes from downtown Montpelier. They offer fresh, delicious, and nutritious organic veggies through a Convenient Home Delivery CSA, Farmstand CSA, and wholesale. With a Business Builder loan from the VFF, they plan to make improvements to their wash and pack station, which will allow them to expand to offer a winter CSA option.
Read MoreHoney Field Farm is a 25-acre organic vegetable farm located in Norwich, VT operated by husband and wife team Eli Hersh and Valerie Woodhouse. A $30,000 Business Builder Loan from the Vermont Farm Fund will help Eli and Valerie as they get established on this new property and help them to invest in equipment to be able to work efficiently, including a cultivating tractor, ice machine, golf cart, display cooler, and credit card machines.
Read MoreClearfield Farm is a Certified Organic mixed vegetable and cut flower farm located in Granville, VT serving the Mad River Valley. They grow 12 acres of produce, most of which goes to the Waitsfield Farmers Market and local grocery stores. A $10,000 Business Builder loan will allow Clearfield Farm to build soil fertility and improve their cold storage and processing facilities in the former dairy barn.
Read MoreDick Chase has farming in his blood. An 11th-generation family farmer, he spent most of his life in Newburyport, MA where he started farming in 1964 at Arrowhead Farm. In 2018 he purchased a farm in Alburgh, VT and established West Shore Farm. He plans to use a VFF Business Builder loan to build a 3500 square foot greenhouse. They raise vegetables, pork and beef to be sold through the family’s farmstand, CSA and farmer’s markets in MA.
Read MoreFamily Cow Farmstand (FCF) in Hinesburg, VT is currently Vermont’s largest direct to consumer raw milk producer by volume, selling roughly 9,000 gallons of 100% grass-fed raw cow’s milk to customers in the greater Burlington area. A Business Builder loan from the Vermont Farm Fund will allow Family Cow to establish a farrow-to-finish pork operation and a pastured chicken operation. They will also add frozen storage to their farmstand and renovate an existing pole barn on the property to serve as a space to repair farm equipment.
Read MoreMaple Wind Farm used their Business Builder loan to purchase a used refrigerated delivery truck, portable livestock scales and chute, a Tobb wagon with 3.5 tons of grain storage on wheels, and automated poultry feed lines.
Read MoreA $30,000 Business Builder Loan from the VFF helped the market to weather a dramatic transition to a new location on Pine Street and continue its work supporting and growing the business of local farmers.
Read MoreFrancis and Stephanie Newland started out just three years ago with a few dozen goats. Now they milk 130 goats and came to the Vermont Farm Fund with a request for a $30,000 Business Builder Loan to expand their herd with another 150 milkers, more than doubling their current production.
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